Vintage 2022 – The World’s Gone Mad (Red Blend) – The whole is greater than the sum of its parts:   60% East-facing echalas-trained Syrah grown on rocky sandy soil, 30% head-trained bushvine Mourvedre (high-elevation with northwest-facing aspect), and a 10% addition of Cabernet Sauvignon clones from the back slope of Red Mountain.  Ryan has worked with Chris Peterson since their early Ciel du Cheval days, and WeatherEye provided the opportunity for them to continue building their friendship and to craft world-class wines together.  The Syrah and Mourvedre components were concrete fermented, the Cabernet portion was sourced from 1 new, 1 once-used, and 1 older barrel, all the fermentation was native, and the wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered.  76 cases made.

Vintage 2022 – The Edge of the Wild (Syrah) – Sourced from a high elevation, northeast-facing echalas-trained block that catches the first rays of the new rising sun (obscure yet apropos musical reference here), this wine is composed of a field blend of Ryan’s favorite Syrah clones and was picked at low Brix with a bit of Mourvedre to co-ferment.  The fruit was then sent to low-intervention maestro Keith Johnson, where it was foot-trod (trodden?) with love and guided through 100% whole cluster native fermentation.  Unfined and unfiltered.  No new oak was used in the process.  The result…is why we love Syrah.  93 cases made.

Vintage 2024– Oh man, we love this field blend of 54% Grenache Blanc, 39% Roussanne, 4% Viognier, and 3% Clairette Blanche!  For our second release of MTN/ART made in the méthode ancestrale style, the focus was to hone in on FLAVOR and FRESHNESS (but don’t forget the FUN … and FIZZ), so Seth fermented “Sol to Soul” in stainless steel barrels (rather than a new oak puncheon like the 2023 version) and kept it on the lees 10 months for texture.  To us, this particular bottling of lightly sparkling wine tastes like a mélange of orchard fruits (peach, pear, apricot) with an orange marmalade finish.  VERY limited production and a personal favorite of ours…only 22 cases were made.

Vintage 2023 / (White Rhone Blend). The most common question we get asked after pouring this wine for friends is “When can I buy it???”  Well, here you go!  “Flowers Make Me Think of You” is 55% Grenache Blanc, 33% Roussanne, 9% Clairette Blanche, and 3% Viognier from WeatherEye Vineyard’s northeast-facing slopes.  We sourced this fruit from a combination of bushvine, echalas-trained, and double guyot VSP (vertical shoot positioned) blocks, some with very high vine densities and others spaced as wide as 11 ft x 11 ft!  The various training systems and spacings allow us to dial-in how much sun, wind, and heat the grape clusters are exposed to—giving us a unique combination of fruit characteristics and flavors for each variety.  In the cellar, winemaker Seth Kitzke was able to bring out the texture of this blend by barrel-fermenting it with native yeast, coaxing it through a long malolactic fermentation while aging on the lees, and raising it in a new 500L French oak puncheon (Tonnellerie Damy). We think the results are flat-out delicious.  Only 50 cases made.